Kelly Ripa, after thanking staff in email, will return to ‘Live’ beside Michael Strahan on Tuesday
Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan, co-hosts of the daily television talk show “Live With Kelly and Michael.” Disney/ABC announced this week that Strahan will be leaving to join “Good Morning America” full time this fall.
Disney/ABC’s daytime TV nightmare will soon be over.
Kelly Ripa is planning to return to “Live With Kelly and Michael” on Tuesday after she walked out over the news that her co-host Michael Strahan is leaving the program for ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
In an email late Friday, Ripa alerted the staff of “Live” that her walkout soon would be over.
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“Hi guys. (Sorry for this late Friday night email). I wanted to thank you all for giving me the time to process this new information,” Ripa wrote in the message, obtained by the Los Angeles Times. “Your kindness, support, and love has overwhelmed me. We are a family and I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday morning. Love, Kelly.”
Ripa has not appeared on the Disney/ABC syndicated daytime program since April 19 -- the day she learned Strahan was joining “GMA” full-time this fall.
Ripa was reportedly upset that she had not been informed of Strahan’s new job until shortly before it was announced to the press. She was consulted by upper management at Disney/ABC, which engineered the shift with the aim of boosting “GMA.” The network morning program has fallen behind NBC’s “Today” in the ratings race for the 25-to-54 age group coveted by advertisers.
Strahan appeared on “Live” with guest co-hosts Ana Gasteyer and Erin Andrews the rest of the week. Ripa had scheduled vacation days on Friday and Monday.
Two Disney/ABC executives not authorized to comment publicly separately confirmed a People.com report late Friday that said Ripa would be returning to the co-host chair with Strahan by her side.
Ripa has not spoken to the press since the backstage saga unfolded, but was seen leaving her Manhattan apartment on Thursday with a copy of the Malcolm Gladwell book “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants.”
She then left town early for an already planned trip to Turks and Caicos with husband Mark Consuelos and their children to celebrate the couple’s 20th wedding anniversary.
People.com quotes an unnamed source that said Strahan had reached out to Ripa in an attempt to get her to return to the show.
Ripa has been co-host of “Live” since 2001. Strahan joined the program in 2012, replacing its original male co-host, Regis Philbin.
Strahan, a former NFL star, has been a hit with “Live” viewers and became a twice-a-week contributor to “Good Morning America” in 2014. He is joining the program full time in September.
Staff writer Meg James contributed to this report
Twitter: @SteveBattaglio
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